The recent introduction and deployment of packet switched networks to carry voice traffic requires a new method of routing call traffic. Traditionally, voice call and analog data traffic has been routed from a central office connected to customer premises equipment (rotary telephones, touch-tone telephones, facsimile machines, analog modems or the like) to the PSTN which switches the call in accordance with the number dialed, thereby routing the call to a destination device connected elsewhere to the PSTN.
In the last decade there has been an ever-increasing build-out of packet-switched Next Generation Networks (NGNs) as opposed to traditional circuit-switched PSTN. There are now many telecommunications networks that are a hybrid of packet-switched and circuit switched networks. There are many ways to route call traffic in a heterogeneous environment composed of: (1) a service provider's softswitches (call agents) operating in conjunction with its packet backbone network; (2) traditional PSTN switches which may or may not be owned by the service provider; and, (3) call destinations (e.g., phones) within or outside the service provider's network. For example, call traffic may be routed from a service provider's subscriber immediately to the nearest available PSTN switch which may be owned by another service provider. there may be past traffic routing problems addressed to route calls within a traditional “PSTN” network, as well as separate problems addressed to route data over a packet (i.e. IP) network, there has been little work done on the need to depart from longstanding digit translation methodologies and introduce unique and new methods to intelligently route call (e.g. voice and analog data) traffic over a heterogenous network composed of a packet switched network and traditional circuit-switched PSTN networks. In addition, previous problems associated with routing data over a packet network operated at a “pure” IP layer where the algorithms did not have knowledge of the application (i.e. routing of calls). The recent introduction and deployment of packet switched networks to carry voice traffic traditionally carried by circuit switched networks presents a relatively new problem with regards to the determination of a simplified call processing translation routing composed of a packet switched network capable of carrying voice traffic.
All prior solutions utilize routing algorithms that operate at the IP layer. These solutions do not have any knowledge of the application that is using the transport. As such, it will typically utilize traditional “IP metrics” like Link State or Distance Vectors between Routers to control the Datagrams. Our solution does a higher level route computation, based on the called number, and the geographic location of the PSTN switches, and the Service Provider-owned Call Agents, thereby maximizing the usage of the packet network in the Service Provider's domain. This can be a major revenue booster for the network service provider.
All current routing algorithms in packet-switched networks now operate at “pure” IP layer where the algorithms do not have knowledge about the application. Realtime Transport Protocol (“RTP”) is used for streaming realtime multimedia (including voice) over IP in packets. RTP, however, provides no knowledge of the physical location of the network node locations. Thus, a packet of voice data sent over a packet switched network may or may not arrive (i.e. egress) at the PSTN nearest the destination.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a method and system for the routing of calls within a heterogeneous network that can minimize the use of the PSTN and maximize the use of a service provider's packet switched backbone network so as to minimize call cost.
Furthermore, it is desirable to have a method and system for routing calls that uses information about the geographic location of nodes in the packet switched network in order to optimize the routing of packets to a node in the packet switched portion of the network nearest to the PSTN connection of the destination user.